1922 Popular Music, Songs and Artists

Carl Fenton
I’ll Build A Stairway To Paradise
Written by George and Ira Gershwin and premiered in the musical The George White Scandals. Described by a critic in 1922 as”The most perfect piece of jazz ever written.” The song was also used in the 1951 MGM musical “An American in Paris.”

Club Royal led by saxophonist Clyde Doerr
The Sheik (Also known as the Sheik of Araby.)
This piece of music was inspired by the 1921 film The Sheik starring Rudolph Valentino.
Clyde Doerr was a friend of Paul Whiteman. Whiteman secured a contract for Doerr to record for Victor Records. The first recording that Doerr made was The Sheik, and it was so successful that Whiteman severed all contact with Doerr out of resentment.

Fanny Brice
Second Hand Rose
This song was featured as the piece Brice used to audition for Florenz Ziegfeld in the Film Funny Girl. The piece would appear again on the charts at number 32 in 1965 on the Barbra Streisand album, My name is Barbra. The album would go to number two and would go platinum.

Fats Waller
Waller was the son of a lay preacher. His father wanted him to pursue a religious vocation, but his talent for music took him in another direction.

His professional career began at the age of 15 when he became the organist at the Lincoln Theater on 135th St. There is some evidence to suggest that Waller studied as a pianist under Leopold Gadowski and composition with Carl Bohm at the Julliard School. Waller was best known for his popular songs, but while in Britain on his 1939 European tour, he recorded his London Suite. This suite shows his aspirations to become a serious composer.

Fats Waller died too soon, in 1943, of too much alcohol and hard living. His legacy is the music he left behind.

T’Aint Nobody’s Business If I Do
Written and Performed by Fats Waller.
The 1970’s musical Ain’t Misbehavin, was named after a Fats Waller song. Ain’t Nobody’s Business If I do was performed by Nell Carter in the show. Carter would later star in the 1980s situation comedy Gimme a Break.

Henry Burr
My Buddy
Music by Walter Donaldson and Lyrics by Gus Kahn, the song was published in 1922. The cover for the sheet music featured a picture of Al Jolson. The song has been recorded by many artists including, Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Barbara Streisand and Barry White.

Lambert Murphy
I Dream Of Jeannie With The Light Brown Hair
The song was written by composer Stephen Foster. Foster composed this piece during a time that he was separated from his wife, whose name was Jenny, for an extended period of time. It is considered today as one of Foster’s finest compositions. However, when the song was introduced in 1854 it received little attention.

Marion Harris
I’m Just Wild About Harry
Written by Eubie Blake, (music) and Noble Sissle, (lyrics), for the all-black musical Shuffle Along. This was the first all-black musical that was also completely written and composed by blacks. The song was also used in Harry Truman’s 1948 campaign song.

Paul Whiteman
Whiteman started his career in Denver playing the Viola in The Denver Symphony Orchestra in 1907. By 1914 he had moved to San Francisco. During World War I, he led a 40 piece Navy band, playing marches by day and show tunes at night.

In 1918, Whiteman organized a dance band in San Francisco. Not long after he moved to New Jersey and finally settled in New York in 1920. He soon became the best known American band leader especially with his recordings of Whispering and Japanese Sandman.

For his first extended concert tour in the United States, he commissioned George Gershwin to write Rhapsody in Blue.

From 1928 to 1952 Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra was featured on many network radio shows. They also took part in several films starting in 1930 with King of Jazz. The orchestra provided music for six Broadway shows and produced more than 600 phonograph records. Later Whiteman would work as music director for ABC. He died in 1967.

Whiteman’s musical memorabilia including his large library of more than 3000 arrangements was bequeathed to Williams College in Williamstown MA. The memorabilia and sheet music now form The Whiteman Collection.

Three O’Clock In The Morning
Recorded by Whiteman is 1922 it lasted 8 weeks at #1 on the charts and became Whiteman’s early signature song. The song was also referenced in F Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby.

Top Artists and Songs of 1922